The decades fell away and I was a boy again, eagerly opening my stocking on Christmas morning - though I knew it contained nothing more than an apple, an orange and, if I were very lucky, a penny whistle.

Readers seeking dirt on Farrow's high-flying companions will be disappointed, and are likely to wonder what fell away from the manuscript before Doubleday trundled its allegedly timid, reclusive creator back into the spotlight.

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